Panel Statement
Panel: The Volatility and Stability of WorldMaking as Techné
In a hyper-culture of change influenced by physical and cyber communities, worlds and networks, further speculations for the future of the field of architecture will necessarily be directly linked to this cultural and technological change. This change starts with the multiple identities of one’s representation as seen in Facebook, Twitter, ordinary e-mail accounts and highly interactive mobile phone and other digital devices as well as avatars on Second Life, CyberTown and Active Worlds. The body is no longer seen as a physical entity composed of matter and energy but rather a volatile extension of our consciousness and experiential worlds of hybrids of physical, digital and augmented realities and virtualities. Implications of such worlds are already evident in the participatory art practice, interactive architecture, cyberspace, multiple realities and neoplasmatic designs; all have contributed a great deal to creating parallel selves and other architectures where technology was and will always be at the heart of their worldmaking. Two decades ago or so, with the start of the age of information technology, architecture started allowing for collaborations with other fields such as computer science and participatory art practice influenced by the cybernetic methodology. Such technological experimentations create constant dialogues between humanism (through participation and interactivity), machinism (through experimentations and transdisciplinarity) and technology, to heighten the human experience. The paper will explore notions of techné and worldmaking as praxis for design expressed through a participatory interactive spatial installation.
- Dr. Sana Murrani is an experimental architect, and currently holds the position of Lecturer in Architecture at the University of Plymouth, UK. She studied Architecture in Baghdad University School of Architecture, graduating in 2000, and obtained her masters degree from the same school in 2003. She is a member of the Planetary Collegium’s CAiiA-Hub in Plymouth, UK where she undertook her PhD under the supervision of Roy Ascott (President of Planetary Collegium). Murrani has a interest in architectural theory of transdisciplinary research particularly experimental and interactive work between the fields of technoscience and art/architecture. Her work investigates the impact of implementing second-order cybernetics and interactive technologies on the creation of temporary and generative situations in architecture through explorations of design processes derived from biological systems, different media of representation and perceptual experiences that challenge our consciousness.